CAN ANIMALS REASON f 15 



the result of experience, and not of reason. Most of my 

 readers will no doubt recall many similar cases among the 

 horses of their acquaintance. I have never seen a loose 

 horse with a trap behind him refrain from trying to go 

 through a narrow gateway, because it was not wide enough 

 to admit the carriage. 



While giving animals full credit for their manifestations 

 of intelligence, we should not forget that some of their 

 instinctive actions often simulate those due to reflection. 

 The extraordinary uniformity which animals of the same 

 species observe in performing actions that at first sight 

 appear to be prompted by reflection, would lead us to ascribe 

 them to blind instinct, rather than to thoughtful intelligence, 

 as for instance, the ruses of the hare when trying to baflle 

 her pursuers. 



To illustrate the manner in which we may mistake the 

 results of experience for those of reasoning, Professor 

 Lloyd Morgan cites the following case : " Some years ago 

 I was with a friend watching a horse which was dragging a 

 heavy load, zigzagging up a steep hill. ' How well,' said 

 my companion, ' that horse appreciates the principle of the 

 inclined plane.' I begged him to explain exactly what he 

 meant by this expression, ' He sees,' said my friend, ' that 

 the less the slope, the less intense, if more prolonged, the 

 labour to raise the load through a given height.' I told 

 him that my own view was that the poor animal was quite 

 unable to perceive the relation between the slope and the 

 labour, and to think, ' the less the slope the less the labour.' 

 Now I have noticed that when I am breasting a steep 

 grassy mountain slope, I have a tendency to slew off to 



